Purpose and Responsibilities of the Committee
The Committee is a committee of Senate and should act on Senate鈥檚 behalf to do detailed work and thinking in the following relevant areas:
- To make recommendations to Senate on the appointment of members of Senate and of the academic staff to the committees of Senate.
- To make recommendations to Senate on the appointment of members of Senate and of the academic staff to the joint committees of Senate and Council.
- To make decisions on appointments using the following criteria:
- Issues of equality, diversity and inclusion;
- The requirement for transparency about the availability of vacant posts;
- The skills that are necessary or desirable for fulling vacant posts;
- The requirement to invite and give careful consideration to expressions of interest for all vacant posts within the Committee鈥檚 remit; and
- The distribution of committee workload amongst members of Senate.
- To conduct an annual skills audit of members of Senate to enable candidates to be matched to vacant posts on the basis of their skills and expertise; and to inform the process for appointing members to committees of Senate.
- To carry out such tasks as may be delegated to it by Senate, and to provide advice to Senate, as appropriate.
- To conduct an effectiveness review on at least a biennial basis.
Reporting Relationships
The minutes from each meeting of the Senate Appointments Committee will be submitted to the following Senate meeting.
Procedural Rules
In the absence of any specific rules, the procedure is as set out in the Standing Orders of Senate.
Meeting frequency
The Committee meets once per year.
Quorum
The quorum for meetings shall be 3 of the membership.
Term lengths on sub-committees
Senate members appointed to sub-committees serve terms of three years at a time. Most members can serve two consecutive terms (a total of six years) but in exceptional circumstances may serve a maximum of three consecutive terms (a total of nine years). All terms are subject to renewal. When a member鈥檚 term on Senate ends, their terms on any sub-committees of Senate will also end.
Membership
Ex-officio members
- Professor Marcus Munaf貌, Chair (Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost)
- Dr Sabina Gheduzzi, Chair of Academic Assembly
- Professor Deborah Wilson, Dean of a Faculty or School
Appointed members
- Professor Alan Hayes, an elected member of Senate, appointed by the Vice-Chancellor for the duration of the remainder of their term on Senate, term 2027
Elected members
- Vacancy, an elected member of Senate, elected by Senate for the duration of the remainder of their term on Senate
In attendance
- Ruth Robins, Governance Partner
The terms of office expire on 31 July in the year stated.
Other members may be co-opted or invited to attend for specific meetings at the discretion of the Committee.
Meeting Dates and Paper Deadlines
A full schedule of meeting dates for all committees and boards is available here
The following timescales normally apply:
- Paper submission deadline: Two weeks before the scheduled meeting date
- Circulation of agenda and papers: One week before the scheduled meeting date
Items for future meetings should be discussed with the Governance Partner as early as possible.
Version Information
These Terms of Reference are reviewed by the Committee annually or more frequently as needed.
- Owner: Senate Appointments Committee
- Approver:
- Date of last approval: 5 November 2025